…party executive yet to meet on matter
Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Shurwayne Holder, MP said while the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the PNCR has not deliberated on a possible replacement for A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Member of Parliament, Joseph Harmon, who has since signaled his intention to resign from the Parliament of Guyana, there is a long list of candidates up for consideration.
“We have a long list of candidates,” Holder disclosed while fielding questions from reporters during a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
Harmon’s resignation, according to a letter submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, is expected to take effect on March 15.
According to Holder, once the resignation takes effect, the process of identifying a replacement will be activated.
It was noted that while there is a long list of candidates, the CEC has not listed anyone thus far. “We haven’t come up with the shortlist as yet,” he said, while noting that the process has to take its course.
“The Central Executive has got to deliberate on it; then we have to take it to our coalition partners, we have to take it to the APNU and then we move to have that replacement. It’s a process,” he explained.
Expressing confidence in the process, Holder said he is positive that once the candidate is selected to take up one of the two vacant seats in the National Assembly, the Leader of the List of Representatives, David Granger, will have no difficulty extracting the name from the List.
Village Voice News understands that in addition to the Leader of the PNCR, Aubrey Norton being next in line to take up one of the two vacant seats on the Opposition side of the House, former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief-of-Staff, Rear Admiral Gary Best, and former Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry Adviser, Mervyn Williams are among PNCR members being considered to occupy the other seat.
Aside from Harmon, APNU+AFC MP Dr. Nicolette Henry will also resign with effect from March 31.
Harmon’s resignation from Parliament comes less than six weeks after he stepped down as Leader of the Opposition.
